COLUMBUS, Ohio — The new Columbus Police Dialogue Team is meant to help navigate community situations where people are exercising their First Amendment rights.
The creation of the new role stems from the protests two summers ago following the death of George Floyd.
Wearing a light blue vest, Columbus police officer Steven Dyer is among the first to participate in the department's new dialogue team.
"We're in there to help communicate. We're going to explain the police actions to you,” he said.
Officer Dyer and several others at the department traveled to Europe, where research is underway in England on policing in crowded environments where people are exercising their free speech rights.
"We were given the mandate after 2020 and 2021 that we need to reassess, re-evaluate how we handle crowds. How we do public order,” said Sgt. Frederick Brophy.
The mandate follows the summer protests of 2020.
That's why the department created the Dialogue Team -- officers serving a single point of contact before, during, and after an event.
They will serve as a liaison between the community and police.
“Through proactive dialogue, and engagement, will build trust and understanding with the community and create a social contract,” said Sgt. Brophy.
We asked, why it has taken two years to establish this dialogue team.
"It's one of those things where you want to do things correctly," said Sgt. Brophy.
Officers said the role is a work in progress and there were lessons learned during this past weekend's Pride March -- although they weren't clear on exactly what that meant.
The most recent example of their work so far took place Tuesday morning. Dialogue officers were on-site of a homeless site as it was cleared out where people were protesting.